Take embroidery a step further with Amy Ray! Asian-inspired lampshades embellished with flying fish. Canvas sneakers decorated with pink and white swirls. A pretty pillow adorned with a sleeping bunny, sweetly curled up.

In Doodle Stitching Embroidery & Beyond Amy Ray teaches you how to create these awesome projects (and more!) and add charming embroidered touches to them. Using basic embroidery skills as a starting point, she pairs several fun techniques with her fresh, irresistible aesthetic. Begin by learning several styles for outlining, filling, decorating, and appliqué. Find out about floss, fancy threads, fabrics, and needles. Get the scoop on hoops, and the lowdown on transferring your very own designs onto every type of fabric. The fresh ideas, witty patterns, and clever color illustrations take stitchers from novice to accomplished in a blink of the eye!

There are lots of great designs, but you’re also encouraged to go freestyle and create your own, so think outside of the pattern and doodle away!

ENTER TO WIN A COPY OF DOODLE STITCHING EMBROIDERY & BEYOND

Just leave a comment on this blog post by 9 pm EST on Wednesday, November 12. Winners will be selected by Thursday, November 13. Click here for the official rules. Show us your #TBT love, and we’ll return the favor!

As we get ready for Halloween tomorrow, we also look ahead as the holiday crafting season continues! What better way to start getting ready for the winter season than with our Throwback Thursday pick this week: Pretty in Patchwork: Holidays.

Celebrate the season with the second in our Pretty in Patchwork series. It’s a very merry collection of absolutely adorable projects from the popular “Quilt Dad” blogger and friends, including pieced polar bear and penguin pillows, a too-cute pillowcase and matching hedgehog stuffy, stockings, ornaments, tree skirts, and more. Of course, there are assorted quilts of all sizes, too. With a robust basics section, color step-by-step illustrations, and color variations throughout, Pretty in Patchwork: Holidays will help you deck your halls in style!

ENTER TO WIN A COPY OF PRETTY IN PATCHWORK: HOLIDAYS

Just leave a comment on this blog post by 9 pm EST on Wednesday, November 5. Winners will be selected by Thursday, November 6. Click here for the official rules. Show us your #TBT love, and we’ll return the favor!

Fall is here, and we all know what that means – the holidays are right around the corner.

Go through the seasons with Heart-Felt Holidays – a book of fresh, easy-to-make felt decorations – all with festive and fun holiday themes!

Using readily available store-bought felt sheets, you can craft 40 charming projects for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, and more. The book includes step-by-step instructions, templates, and several no-sew projects that are easy enough for kids to make!

Authors Amanda Carestio and Kathy Sheldon are the authors of several DIY and crafty titles for Lark, including Felt-o-ween, which just came out this month.

Just leave a comment on this blog post by 9 pm EST on Wednesday, October 29. Winners will be selected by Thursday, October 30. Click here for the official rules. Show us your #TBT love, and we’ll return the favor!

I have a weakness, and it’s candy. I’m constantly sneaking chocolates and caramels, or deciding last minute in the checkout line that I deserve a treat. But even when I’m craving candy and I have nothing on hand, I’ve never once thought that I could possibly make my own from scratch. Even looking at the handmade creations in candy shop windows, I’ve always imagined that they would require a fancy commercial kitchen and state-of-the-art appliances to make. I’ve never been so happy to be wrong.

Sweet Confections by Nina Wanat is a gorgeously photographed book with over 40 easy-to-make candy recipes that range from crunchy toffees and lollipops to chewy jellies and taffies, offering plenty of options to satisfy every craving.

With her simple, detailed instructions (which require ingredients and equipment that you are sure to have on hand), you will soon be making a wide array of delicious and beautiful sweets that will have your friends either completely shocked or accusing you of lying and purchasing them at a gourmet candy shop. But with recipes that include everything from pumpkin caramels and saltwater taffy to Turkish delight and vanilla cheesecake fudge, Sweet Confections will soon become the only friend you really need.

ENTER TO WIN A COPY OF SWEET CONFECTIONS

Just leave a comment on this blog post by 9 pm EST on Wednesday, October 22. Winners will be selected by Thursday, October 23. Click here for the official rules. Show us your #TBT love, and we’ll return the favor!

October is here, which means hat weather is quickly approaching! Get ready for fall with some of these gorgeous knitted hat designs from Iris Schreier.

Knitters love to make hats — and ONE + ONE: HATS, the second book in Iris Schreier’s exciting new series, gives them a stunning array of fashionable, functional, and beautiful projects. Best of all, each one uses only two skeins of yarn!

The hats come in a broad range of colors and textures, and Schreier explores a variety of knitting techniques, from knit and purl to lace; stranded colorwork and slip stitch; and double knit. Pick up a copy today and get ready for winter!

Just leave a comment on this blog post by 9 pm EST on Wednesday, October 8. Winners will be selected by Thursday, October 9. Click here for the official rules. Show us your #TBT love, and we’ll return the favor!

For Throwback Thursday this week, we’re taking a look at the adorable Wee Felt Worlds. There’s something magical about things made in miniature—and now you can create whole wee worlds of them, with three-dimensional critters and scenery!

It’s easy to do with needle felting, an oh-so-simple process that requires very few tools! Choose one of ten fun felted scenes with 50 individual items, including a prehistoric landscape with dinosaurs, volcanoes, and Paleolithic plants; a camping adventure featuring an adorable bear cub; a sweet sewing room, and even a galaxy far, far away with UFOs.

Along the way, readers get tons of techniques and tips from the designers—from basic felt shaping to creating joints—and lots of helpful step-by-step illustrations.

Just leave a comment on this blog post by 9 pm EST on Wednesday, October 1. Winners will be selected by Thursday, October 2. Click here for the official rules. Show us your #TBT love, and we’ll return the favor!

Almost every town in the South, large or small, has its own cake lady, that one special person who shows her love for friends and families by providing delicious Southern baked goods for all of the community’s special occasions. In Cake Ladies by Jodi Rhoden, this southern tradition is celebrated with profiles of 17 different women who wear this title with pride.

These talented bakers don’t just share their personal story; each one also reveals their signature recipes, providing detailed instructions and mouthwatering photographs so bakers everywhere can enjoy delicious desserts with some southern charm. With a variety of traditional southern cakes, ranging from a caramel cake and a strawberry shortcake to a pineapple upside-down cake and Mississippi Mud, you’ll be eager to try them all. It won’t be long until you too are a cake lady, making your loved ones’ celebrations a bit sweeter with the perfect cake for their birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and graduations.

Be sure to order your copy of Cake Ladies today and let the baking begin!

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ENTER TO WIN OUR SPECIAL CAKE LADIES GIVEAWAY!

Leave a comment on this blog post by 9 pm EST on Wednesday, September 24th for your chance to win a copy of the book + a special Cake Ladies apron for your kitchen. Winners will be selected by Thursday, September 25th. Click here for the official rules. Show us your #TBT love, and we’ll return the favor!

This week we’re celebrating Throwback Thursday with Hand in Hand by Jenny Doh! This imaginative book showcases DIY crafting ideas for kids from twenty top parenting bloggers.

From papier-mâché masks to keepsake pillows to family banners, these fun-filled projects that both parent and child can make together. With the flip of a page, these simple moments with your child will create lasting memories, inspire creativity and instill confidence in your child’s abilities.

Included are easy-to-follow instructions for children and family members of all ages, beautifully-illustrated pictures and creative designs, and personal antecedents from parenting superstars. Jenny Doh’s Hand in Hand is one family craft book will be sure to create memories that will last a lifetime.

Jenny Doh is the former Editor-in-Chief of Somerset Studio magazine and is the President and Founder of crescendoh.com. Jenny serves regularly as a keynote speaker across the nation delivering messages on creative passion, authentic leadership, effective communication, and focused compassion. Jenny was recognized by Folio magazine as one of the top 40 leaders within the publishing industry. Jenny’s previous books include Signature Styles and Where Women Create: Book of Inspiration. She lives in Santa Ana, California.

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ENTER TO WIN A COPY OF HAND IN HAND

Just leave a comment on this blog post by 9 pm EST on Wednesday, September 17th. Winners will be selected by Thursday, September 18th. Click here for the official rules. Show us your #TBT love, and we’ll return the favor!

Friends, Halloween is right around the corner! Interested in some spooky – but stylish – Halloween projects this year? Then be sure to grab Artful Halloween to get ready for October 31st with 31 beautiful costume, pumpkin, and home-decorating ideas!

Give your house a spooky, sophisticated look with projects like black lace votives, a “blood-splattered” paper bouquet, monster cupcake toppers, glow-in-the-dark treat buckets, illustrated pumpkins and black doily spider webs. Also included are guidelines for tools, materials, and techniques to get you started.

Author Susan Wasinger designs houses, products, books, and magazines. She is the author of several books, including The Feisty Stitcher and Artful Christmas, which comes out in September!

You can get ready for the holiday season by ordering your copy of Artful Halloweenhere.

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ENTER TO WIN A COPY OF ARTFUL HALLOWEEN

Just leave a comment on this blog post by 9 pm EST on Wednesday, September 10th. Winners will be selected by Thursday, September 11th. Click here for the official rules. Show us your #TBT love, and we’ll return the favor!

We love the local foods movement, and now it’s time to take it one step further. Make your own pickles! Turn those beautiful berries into delicious jam! They make great back to school gifts for your children’s teachers, and don’t forget – the holidays are just around the corner.

If you think you can’t do it, think again! In Homemade Living: Canning and Preserving, Ashley English teaches us the tricks of the trade. Even if you’re a beginner, this book will make it fun and simple. English offers clear information to help you get started, how-to steps, invaluable trouble shooting tips, tons of inspiration, plus profiles of home canners. She demystifies the science behind the process, so you’ll know what you’re doing is safe, and tells you what to look for when selecting ingredients. Broken down by seasons, she shares delicious recipes from timeless canning classics – Strawberry Jam, Sweet Pickle Relish, Apple Butter – to modern twists – Curried Winter Squash Chutney, Peach and Lavender Butter, and Tomato Basil Sauce – that are sure to become favorites.

Just leave a comment on this blog post by 9 pm EST on Wednesday, August 27th. Winners will be selected by Thursday, August 28th. Click here for the official rules. Show us your #TBT love, and we’ll return the favor!